The biggest loss of money I suffered was to receiverships .Freight companies are always going broke.my first paint job cost $10.000.Off it came 8 months later. You could buy a high cube trailer to suit the company only to have them loose the work. Companies are buggers to claim they need all the trucks they can get for a new contract. What it really means the rates are getting the chop again!
2sheddies,
Oct 9, 4:35am
This sounds very much the same, or similar to buying into a franchise. You pay thousands of dollars to the franchisor, just so you can trade under that name, pay weekly fees, then you still have to buy vehicles and/or and equipment to operate the particular business, and they still retain a level of control.
They're claytons businesses. the business you own, when you don't own a business.
clatty,
Oct 9, 4:48am
Exactly, freight companies managers will never call the owner driver in for a meeting to see how things are going also they have no concern for the welfare of the driver or his wife and children. You dance to the company tune like a monkey.The sign writing that you have to pay for in no way structures anybody into the business.
snork28,
Oct 9, 5:05am
totally agree.
lacedog,
Oct 9, 5:48am
man im glad i started this thread im defenetly rethinking my options. . . there must be some positivness out there somewhere
mrcat1,
Oct 9, 5:59am
Do you have a TSL even?
dr.doolittle,
Oct 9, 7:37am
Gezzz lacedog, why dont you just go straight to the top. Set yourself up as a freight company & you be the boss. Spend your money on a flash new web site & cell phone, 'employ' a few owner drivers with flash shinny trucks & let them take care of all the regulation & red tape. lease some space under a shell company name (so if/when it all goes tit's-up you can walk away) and you're off. Hardest parts thinking of a catchy name.
lacedog,
Oct 9, 7:58am
hahaha i reacon dr doolittle
clatty,
Oct 9, 8:14am
I tried a few of these. This is a true story .I started work with the BIG company but found after taking a full load to wellington Monday night I was there until Thursday waiting for a load to Auckland.The only stuff coming north is timber.Up to 10 drops to unload all across Auckland.I arranged a meeting with the operations manager Not happy. He walked into the room. Said you are a f------g old idiot . Give me six weeks and I will trip you out of the company. Then walked out. I took a $50000 loss on the B Train I bought to work for them.
lacedog,
Oct 9, 8:20am
man what a mess . . . so now you just drive for someone now
clatty,
Oct 9, 8:33am
I own a dairy farm . Lace . Not making any money here at the moment. not worried.
john7891,
Oct 9, 8:55am
I work in the finance industry. My advice is to think very hard about it, do your sums, then do your sums again and seek advice from more than one source. And read above messages from Clatty - good advice/comment.
clatty,
Oct 9, 9:07am
Also work shotgun on trucks ,find out what is happening to the owner drivers . The last outfit I worked for took on a lot of trucks and this had the effect of collapsing the revenue of the existing drivers big time. These companies take on more trucks and then try to find work for them . Don't have anything to do with trucks. Ask yourself why is it hard to find drivers.?
clatty,
Oct 9, 9:09am
May be container cartage Auckland?
skiff1,
Oct 9, 9:28am
and interest
yellowsubmarine,
Oct 9, 9:43am
You will probably make more per hour driving someone elses truck once you factor in all the paperwork. It's It's a race to the bottom at the moment.
And because all the owner drivers are cutting all the rates companies who do own their own trucks can't afford to pay decent wages to their drivers.
mrcat1,
Oct 9, 10:51am
And fuel, RUC, repairs, maintenance, insurance etc, these are just costs associated with a business whether you lease or own a truck.
mrcat1,
Oct 9, 10:52am
I have 2 TSL's, no way id go down that road over freight.
mrcat1,
Oct 9, 11:07am
Really? There are other avenues to get work for a truck without going down the road of being dictated to by a big company, depends how lazy you are. If you want to have a big flashy truck and only cart freight and don't want to get your own work then the big companies is the way to go, but your only a puppet on a string to the company and bank. If you buy a cheaper reliable tipper and trailer and were prepared to cold call on people you will drum up work, and the harder you work the better off you will be. I have done the OD for freight around Auckland scenario for a freight company, they went into liquidation, and I've been a OD with a tipper working around Auckland for anybody, working for anybody is a lot better than tied to one company every day of the week.
clatty,
Oct 9, 7:41pm
Bobcats better I used to own one The only thing a lot of cash jobs people would not pay the G S T I had to pay it out of net . Sharemarket crash of 97 saw the work disappear sold the machine. house crash coming Auckland. Work for wages
bjmh,
Oct 9, 7:53pm
I have been in my own small garage since 1980,survived crash of 1987 plus a couple more.Things have tightened up a lot lately in this area ,mainly due to Fonterras projections.The compliance costs in running any business are significant and usually no one tells you about them.When the housing market bubble bursts ,which it will. sh.t will flow downhill. google dairy farmers committing suicide and see what huge debt brings.
horsygirl,
Oct 9, 7:59pm
3 things stuff you as O/D. borrowed money, depreciation and repairs/ maintenance.
elect70,
Oct 9, 9:25pm
Yes 1 of the guys that used to do my containers went trough 3 companies as an OD as they got taken over & absorbed into the parent co & repainted /signwrited his tractor 3 times at his own cost . Another had a curtainsider & it was about $8 G to have that done . But at least 1 of the big cos have gone back to owning the trucks guess that way they are modern units kept up to scratch & less risk of downtime & losing freight . It may be different in the contracting bisuness as see lots of ODs on roading jobs .
griev,
Mar 3, 10:14am
I am an OD I am happy , have good income for the moment
I have talked to ODs in others industries and certainly wondered how they made money
There is a lot to know and it cert pays to shop around
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